The brass section playing fortissimo can drown out practically the
whole orchestra.

One-third of the total power of a 75-piece orchestra comes from the
bass drum.

High frequency sounds of 2-4,000 Hz are the most damaging. The uppermost
octave of the piccolo is 2,048-4,096 Hz.

Aging causes gradual hearing loss, mostly in the high frequencies.

Speech reception is not seriously impaired until there is about 30
dB loss; by that time severe damage may have occured.

Hypertension and various psychological difficulties can be related
to noise exposure.

The incidence of hearing loss in classical musicians has been estimated
at 4-43%, in rock musicians 13-30%.

Statistics for the Decibel (Loudness) Comparison Chart were taken
from a study by Marshall Chasin , M.Sc., Aud(C), FAAA, Centre for Human
Performance & Health, Ontario, Canada. There were some conflicting
readings and, in many cases, authors did not specify at what distance
the readings were taken or what the musician was actually playing. In
general, when there were several readings, the higher one was chosen.